Lacing-stay for corsets



(No Model.)

T. P. TAYLOR.

. ILIAGING STAY iE'OR GORSETS.

No. 347,449. Patented Aug. 17, 1886.

may

1 Firms mwmnam. Washington. In:v

PATENT Enron.

THOMAS P. TAYLOR, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

LACI NG-STAY FO R CORSETS.

b'PEClFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 347,449, dated August 17, 1886, Application filed April 21, lFSG. Serial No. 199,580. (No model.)

To mZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS P. TAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lacing-Stays for Corsets; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the manufacture of corsets, and has for its object to greatly improve the system of lacing, so that a corset may be laced up much more easily and with less strain upon the cord than has heretofore been possible, and at the same time all strain shall be removed from the material of the corset and taken up by the stay alone. I have therefore devised a lacingstay provided with eyes projecting outward from the side thereof, and consisting of one or more continuous coils of wire lying in the plane of the stay, so that in use a wide bearing-surface is provided for the lacing-cord.

Heretofore the system of lacing corsets has been to pass the cord through lacing-hooks or through eyelets secured in a wide stay, or placed between two stays or between the two sides of a double stay. In the two latter instances the eyelets are supported by the material of the corset proper, usually re-enforced by strips of paper or other material inserted to lend additional stability.. The wide stays are objectionable, owing to their weight and to the expense of production. The other systems are also objectionable, on account of the expense of production, and also because the strain in use comes largely upon the material of the corset, as the re enforcing material quickly becomes saturated with perspiration and rendered of very little use. All of the systems heretofore used are open to the still more serious objection that the eyelets vare necessarily placed so far apart that great strain upon the cord is necessary in lacing the corsets. As a matter of fact, the strain upon the cord is so grcat'that serious inconvenience is caused by the frequent breaking of the cords in use. It is of course necessary to leave a little space at the back between the two halves of a corset when they are laced up. In the old system of lacing it was necessary that the cords in passing from side to side should not only cross this space, but should also pass over the outer stay or over the outer half of a double stay. In order to overcome these serious objections, I provide eyes consisting of coils of wire through which the cords pass, and which project inward from ordinary single stays. I thus reduce by more than one-half the distance between the opposite bearingpoints of the cord, so that a very much shorter cord may be used, the strain upon the cord will be much more nearly in a straight line, and the entire drawing strain will be taken up by the stay itself. In devices of this class it is of course essential that the cost of production should be reduced to the minimum without impairing the durability, and it is furthermore essential that the eyes shall present a broad smooth bearing-surface to the cord, in order to prevent any wear upon thelatter. In order to accomplish these results, I form the eyes from a single piece of wire, as I will now describe, referring by numbers to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of the back of the two halves of a corset, illustrating the manner in which my invention is carried into effect; Fig. 2, a view of a portion of a corset-stay, illustrating the manner in which I preferably form the eye and attach it to the stay; and Fig. 3, a perspective of the eye detached.

1 1 indicate the two halves of the corset, which may be of any preferred construction. 2 indicates the lacing-stay, 3, the eyes, and 4- the cord. The eyes are'formed from a single piece of wire, as shown in Fig. 3. As it is important that a broad bearing-surface should be presented to the cord, while at the same time the eye as a whole should be as light as possible, I form one or more coils at the center of the piece of wire. This is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, in which the wire is coiled once, thus presenting two thicknesses of the wire for the cord to bear against. Another coil may of course be formed, if desired; but in practice one is found quite sufficient. The ends of the piece of wire are passed through holes 5 in the stay, and the eye is seen red in position by bending the ends over flat against the stay, as indicated in Fig. 1.

It will of course he soon that the details of 5 construction may be widely varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

lying in the plane of the stay, wherehy additional hearing-sir rface is formed For the lacing cord, the ends of the wire being attached to the stay to hold the eyes in place.

In testimony whereof I al'fix my signature in 1 presence of two witnesses.

I claim" THOMAS P. TAYLOR. A lacing-stay for corsets having; eyes pro- \Vitnesses: jecting from the side thereof, said eyes COH- A. M. \VOOS'IJJR, 1o sisting of one or more eontiinieus coilsoi" wire Com, E. Incomes. 

